Dispensers are known for dispensing preprinted tags and labels. A tag printer and dispenser is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,601,042 wherein the number of tags as well as the number of tag parts that can be printed and dispensed is user selectable. A labeler is a type of label dispenser that includes a printer to print information on a label before the label is dispensed. Label dispensers are known to operate in an automatic dispense or on-demand mode wherein as soon as a dispensed label is removed from the dispenser, another label is automatically dispensed or printed and dispensed. U.S. Pat. No. 3,840,422 shows one such device in the form of a hand held labeler wherein contact between an applicator roll of the labeler and an article to be labeled causes, through a mechanical linkage, a second label to be automatically printed as a previously dispensed label is being applied to the article. As the labeler is removed from the article, the mechanical linkage causes the second label that was just printed to be fed forward to the applicator. Other label dispensers are known that include a trigger switch wherein manual actuation of the trigger switch causes a label to be dispensed and printed or dispensed. Still other labeler dispensers are known which can dispense a label or print and dispense a label in response to an on-line command from a host device such as a host computer. However, no label dispenser is known that allows a user to selectively operate the dispenser in one of a number of dispensing modes.